Community Education Council 24

P.S. 91 Room 119/68-10 Central Avenue/ Glendale, New York 11385/Phone: 718.418.8160/Fax: 718.418.8168/ Cec24@nycboe.net
New York City Department of Education
Visit our website at www.myschoolonline.com/ny/cec24
Nick Comaianni Dmytro Fedkowskyj Nancy Carbone Ernest Cury Bill Kregler
President 1St Vice President 2nd Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Council Members: Reyes Irizarry

Dominic Coticchio Regional Superintendent
Marge Kolb Charles Amundsen
Joe Pahl Deputy Superintendent
Marcellino Rodriquez Catherine M. Powis
Joanne Scichilone Community Superintendent

FINAL BOARD APPROVED MINUTES

Minutes of Calendar Meeting
March 22, 2005
At P.S. 58, School of Heroes, Maspeth, New York

1) Call to order and Roll Call -- The meeting convened at P.S 58, School of Heroes, NY at
7:00 PM

• Roll Call – Present

• Nancy Carbone
• Nick Comaianni
• Dominic Coticchio
• Ernest Cury
• Dmytro Fedkowskyj
• Marge Kolb
• William Kregler
• Joseph Pahl
• Marcellino Rodriguez
• Joanne Scichilone
• Katelyn Ranzie, CEC High School Member

Also in attendance:

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Regional Superintendent Reyes Irizarry, Community

Superintendent Catherine Powis, Local Instructional Superintendent Lillian Druck, Local
Instructional Superintendent Diane Kay.
2) Approval of Minutes

On motion duly made and seconded the minutes of February 15, 2005 Calendar
meeting were approved, 8 in favor, 2 abstentions.

3) Report of the President

• Nick Comaianni stated that a security survey was taken on various situations in our
district. What we found were some schools with 1,400 students have only one
security officer. If there is a security guard at the door there is no one to patrol the
halls. Mr. Comaianni stated that he does not agree with the Police Departments
policy of not giving extra officers unless an incident happens. Mr. Comaianni
stated that we need to prevent incidents from happening. We will ask officers from
the 104th Precinct and surrounding precincts to attend our meeting on April 19,
2005. Mr. Comaianni stated that as far as the Catholic school closings, the latest
conversation that he’s had with the School Construction Authority and Ms. Powis is
that the DOE is working very hard to obtain their space so we could have additional
schools in our district. Mr. Comaianni also stated that there is a proposal for a
zoning change which will affect PS 128, which will be voted on this evening.
About a dozen homes across from PS 128 will be zoned for that school as opposed
to PS 71 in Ridgewood. Mr. Comaianni stated in his closing statements that he
would like to see a reduction in class size in District 24.

Mr. Comaianni introduced Chancellor Joel Klein.

• Chancellor Klein stated that he spent the day in Albany discussing various issues,
such as CFE funds, smaller class size, more safety. All these issues depend
somewhat on the CFE funds. He hopes that parents put whatever pressure they can
on our Assembly members and Senators. Chancellor Klein stated that the need is
great, but the resources are not. The challenges are enormous for a system such as
ours. We have to do two things at one time. We have to protect and reserve the
things that have gone well in this district and we have to fix things at the same time.
In the 60’s and 70’s 1 out of 2 kids didn’t graduate and about 8 out of 10 didn’t get
a regents diploma. The challenges we face as a nation in the 21st century are many
and we can no longer continue on that path. If we do, a generation of kids will be
unable to compete in a global economy. We have to get serious about changing
education in our city. He knows it’s not easy, and that we are short on time and
resources. He knows this district is overcrowded. Chancellor Klein stated good
news saying that, last year, District 24 out-performed the city in Math and ELA.
City-wide, last year over 111 more schools met their Annual Yearly Progress goals.
Our graduation rate in NYC went from 50.8% to 54%. These numbers indicate we
are going in the right direction. Chancellor Klein also stated that he didn’t think
transferring students will solve the problems of the NYC Public School system. We
need to have good neighborhood schools and give our kids the option to stay close
to home. The Federal and State authorities have pressed us pretty hard; Chancellor
Klein doesn’t believe we should have our good schools overwhelmed. Money
should follow students in terms of enrollment. We will continue to work with the
 Federal government to minimize disruptions. It is his view that it’s much better to
give those students supplemental services and tutoring, at the same time we
improve the schools. Chancellor Klein closed his speech by praising the turnout for
the meeting and asking for questions.

• Nick Comaianni asked Chancellor Klein why the funds allocated for new schools
cannot be used to build extensions as the School Construction Authority had stated
at an earlier meeting? Mr. Comaianni went on to say that it didn’t make sense and
that the CEC has pointed to many schools that are capable of sustaining an
extension. Chancellor Klein answered by stating that he would like a list of schools
the CEC thinks warrants extensions and he will get a full analysis from the School
Construction Authority. He went on to say that we do need new schools, we need
to expand our space and we need to look into leasing Catholic school space. Mr.
Comaianni responded by saying that Sandy Brawer has a list of those schools as
well, such as PS 128, 113, 49, 102.

• Marcelino Rodriguez asked Chancellor Klein if he had any plans to address the
problem of ELL and wanted to know how to get better resources for ELL students.
Chancellor Klein responded that in the budget several hundred million dollars in
additional monies are set aside for ELL. He further stated that last year ELL
students had very good promotion rates. Under Carmen Farina and her leadership
the DOE put in place a very effective language allocation policy to ensure that our
English Language Learners are actually learning English. We have a shortage of
ELL teachers and we are working with universities to recruit more teachers. We are
creating the largest interpretation and translation unit in NYC.

• Joe Pahl asked Chancellor Klein his thoughts regarding the school voucher system
to which Chancellor Klein replied that vouchers are illegal in New York.

• Dominic Coticchio asked Chancellor Klein how come there are billions of dollars in
this state for city schools and we can’t get it. Mr. Coticchio also questioned the
Chancellor as to why he and the Mayor have not brought lawsuits against the
governor and the state, to which Chancellor Klein answered that his office has been
very active in the CFE lawsuit and stated that the current administration in Albany
is unwilling to meet the demand of the court. Chancellor Klein further stated that
we have to keep the heat on Albany.

• Dmytro Fedkowskyj asked Chancellor Klein if he could confirm that exempt school
status will dissolve in September and if so will there be some other term used to
recognize the outstanding academic achievement of these schools, and will all the
schools then receive the same two coach benefit? Chancellor Klein stated that there
will be no elimination of exempt schools. He also stated that as far as coaches, he’d
like to drive more money to the schools so that the principals and the assistant
principals could make decisions at their own discretion.
• Marge Kolb stated that a lot of parents and teachers are concerned about the new
city-wide curriculum. She further stated that she has attended a lot of meetings
where concern has been expressed and questions have been raised regarding the
curriculum. Parents feel like we’re just patted on the shoulder and told not to worry
about it. At the same time we hear criticisms being reported in the news media and
in scholarly articles such as one that appeared in Scientific American, which takes
exception to the assertion that there’s research to support whole language
instruction and instead, states that most children need explicit instructions in
phonics. Parents worry when many of our experienced teachers are very concerned
about the virtual elimination of direct instruction in favor of the workshop method.
We’re concerned when our elementary children who are not scheduled for an art,
music or physical education cluster teacher do not get these subjects from the
regular classroom teacher because there’s no time in the day. We’re concerned that
most of our children no longer have spelling tests. We’ve heard that some teachers
may be sneaking in phonics instruction. She’s heard Carmen Farina talk about
parent involvement but at her meeting every month CEC members are basically
given a presentation on what the DOE has planned, and are not asked what our
concerns are. Chancellor Klein responded that there are schools in this district that
use the balanced literacy approach who are getting the most remarkable results.
The Chancellor further stated the he doesn’t think whole language is a solution.
There are some children who need phonics; there are some children for which
phonics would be a waste of time. The Chancellor further stated that before he got
to his current post the reading levels in district 24 were such that only 40% of
students were on grade level and that’s not where District 24 or any school district
should be. We can do two things in this district – we can teach our children the
discipline they need but we must prepare our children to be critical thinkers. If we
do not teach our children critical thinking skills then we will short change them
dramatically. Ms. Kolb then responded that the balanced literacy approach has
been in district 24 for many years and it’s only in the last year or two that teachers
have been complaining.

• Nancy Carbone asked the Chancellor if he would consider changing Regulation

A185 regarding zoning of schools. She prefaced her question by stating that in
January the CEC was advised of our zoning powers based on your regulation which
all but disallows any CEC input. The Community Superintendent, without any
assistance from the CEC is only mandated to supply one proposal. Why not submit
a written mandate that requires the Community Superintendent to consult with the
CEC before the proposal is presented to us for a vote? The Chancellor stated that he
needed to follow up, do some analysis and get back to her on it.

• Joanne Scichilone asked Chancellor Klein how he ensures that the Regional
Administrators of Special Education are accountable for delivering services?
Chancellor Klein replied that he introduced the Orton-Gillingham program, which
is a powerful program, in some ways more powerful than phonics. The DOE also
has to deal with a national shortage of speech and occupational therapists. He
further stated that he holds people accountable by looking at how many of their
 students show increased performance and then based on that he makes his decision
on accountability. The Chancellor then stated that he thinks things are happening
with Special Education in NYC; unfortunately not quickly enough.

• Congressman Anthony Weiner spoke and the Chancellor offered his rebuttal.

• Bill Kregler asked Chancellor Klein if the DOE could merge the public schools and
the failing Catholic schools, along with their teachers and cited many other city
organizations who have merged including the NYPD, EMS, and FDNY. Mr.
Kregler further stated that the curriculum in theory is good but that the large
number of students in each class is the real problem. We have an opportunity to
spread the students out and give them more and better opportunities to learn to
which Chancellor Klein stated that he is working together with the Archdiocese of
Brooklyn and any space available that could be leased by the DOE will be
investigated.

• Chancellor Klein took various questions from the audience.

• Councilman Dennis Gallagher gave a speech.

4) Report of the Community Superintendent, Catherine Powis.

• Ms. Powis gave her report: Building on the successes of last year’s academy,
schools are designing programs for this year’s Third Grade Academy that will
utilize a variety of approaches and strategies. They might include additional small
group instruction during the day, after school support, and Saturday programs.
Schools will also include guidance support and a parent workshop component.
Intervention and assessment materials will be ordered as needed. In elementary
schools, early grade admission for the academic year 2005-06 is underway this
month. March 7th through March 18 were designated dates by the Office of Early
Childhood Education to jumpstart registration for Pre-K application submissions,
Kindergarten pre-registration and First grade pre-registration. Although time
periods are set aside to start up registration, the early grade admissions process will
continue through the spring and summer. Beginning this September, New York
State Public Health Law requires all students entering the sixth grade and born on
or after January 1, 1994 to be immunized against chickenpox. Students who do not
quality for any exemptions and have not been immunized against chickenpox must
be excluded from school until they comply with this and all other immunization
requirements. Parents should contact their child’s school for further information.
The DOE will again distribute student planners/daily agendas to all public and
charter school students enrolled in grades 3-12 next year. The anticipated
distribution date will be in August before the school year begins. Last year almost
900,000 free student planners to grades 3-12 were distributed, and positive feedback
regarding their use in schools was received. The cost of these planners is made
 possible by generous sponsorships provided by New York area corporations,
colleges and universities.

5) Resolution # 6

The following was unanimously approved:

Be it resolved that the Community Education Council District 24 accepts the proposed
zoning plan changes to address an anomaly in the zoning directly affecting P.S. 128,
located at 69-26 65th Drive, Middle Village, NY 11379 and P.S. 71, located at 62-85
Forest Ave., Ridgewood, NY 11385.

Beginning at the southwest intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and 69th Street and
continuing north on 69th Street, the following addresses from 66 – 36 to 66 – 80 on 69th
Street should be re-zoned from P.S. 71 to P.S. 128. The addresses are defined as follows:
66-36, 66-42, 66-48, 66-50, 66-52, 66-54, 66-60, 66-64, 66-66, 66-76, 66-78, and 66-80.

6) Report of the Committees

• Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Chair of the Building, Zoning and Maintenance

Committee gave his report. There is great news for District 24 -- the Mayor has
modified the city’s initial funding by advancing the city’s share of the 2005 School
Capital Construction Budget and we now have the necessary money budgeted to
fund and restore the originally proposed 2005 Amendment to the Five-year capital
plan as confirmed by Deputy Schools Chancellor Kathleen Grimm. The plan still
has to be formally approved by the City Council. The CEC agreed with the original
November proposal, which included $43 million of much needed school
renovations for our district. Up until 2 weeks ago, about 66% of the $43 million was
removed prior to the Mayor’s modification, but now our schools will get the
scheduled capital improvements through 2007 and it’s because concerned groups,
like your CEC and other involved parents throughout the public school system
stated their complaints that our children deserve better. The CEC has already
strongly advised School Construction, the DOE and City Council Members that
other schools in our district need some major improvements. These schools in need
of major improvements will be evaluated by School Construction since the Five-
Year capital plan is reviewed every year. The CEC will continually speak with
School Construction and the DOE on these important matters of concern.
• Ernest Cury, Chair of the English Language Learner Committee stated his
report. He included a possible meeting date of May 3, 2005 and is currently
awaiting approval from the principal of PS 16.
 • Joe Pahl, Chair of the Website Committee stated his report. He ended by stating
that a special education page has been added and he reiterated the website address
as being www.myschoolonline.com/ny/cec24.

• Marge Kolb, Chair of the Legislative Committee stated that her committee is in
the process of deciding whether they should have another meeting before the end of
the school year.

• Joanne Scichilone, Chair of the Special Education Committee stated that she is
in the process of organizing a meeting which will take place at PS 58. She further
stated that an autistic child, Brittney Maier, who plays the piano, will hopefully
perform.

7) Old Business – None

8) New Business – None

9) Public Agenda Session

• The Community Education Council District 24 took questions from the public.

10) Adjournment

• Nick Comaianni motioned to adjourn, Marge Kolb seconded, meeting adjourned at

10:30 PM